Mather High School

5835 North Lincoln Avenue

Chicago, IL 60659

14 Reviews

School District

Chicago Public Schools
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 19, 2024

Great school! Happy I sent my child to this school, the teachers are great.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2023

I went to this school for 4 years. Honestly, it was the best experience ever. I had such a hard time with my mental health in middle school during 8th grade that I felt hopeless and was ready to give up, but this high school gave me another chance and lifted me up. It's like I started a brand new life there. The first day I came to look at mather during the open house as a freshman, I already knew this was a school I want to go to. I love the classrooms and the hallways. It just gives good vibes. They also have a big variety of AP classes. I took AP classes in my junior and senior years. The ones I took were: chemistry, seminar, lit, and world studies. AP teachers are very fun and I never experienced any problems. All 1 and 2 semesters we spend the whole year going over things in class about what the college board expects us to do on the exams. We are expected to work sometimes in small groups on assignments and it usually helps us get the work done quickly and build thinking skills. During my senior year, I felt very confident about what colleges I wanna apply to, and what I wanna major in. I took an AVID program all my four years and it prepared me for graduation. I never felt behind or stressed with deadlines because of this program. During freshman and sophomore year AVID helps you get organized with grades, passing classes, and getting work done. Junior and senior AVID class was the most helpful because my teacher would always do college presentations or go over majors, and we also had counselors sometimes come in to answer questions and make sure every student is passing. Apart from education, this school is also very involved in clubs. There are a lot of sports options, arts, and ethnic clubs. A lot of students are diverse in this high school and Mather has many dance clubs. I can give a few examples: Vietnamese club, African club, Russian club, Greek club, Philipino club, and many more. After school, each club has to come up with a dance choreography. At the end of the year, during April or May, students get to perform at a big mather gym in front of families and their classmates. Joining a club has many advantages, you easily make friends that share the same cultural or the same foreign language as you, and it will also look good on your recommendation letter (senior year). So for a freshman, I'd give a piece of advice to join at least one club to get more involved and try to make at least one friend.
Submitted by parent on September 01, 2022

Let me start off by saying that this school challenged my daughter enough. She's now graduating UIC with a masters! We are extremely proud of her and her achievement and it all started here! Principle is incredibly approachable and friendly! Anytime I emailed him when I had a question or concern he was prompt. Great school
Submitted by parent on August 09, 2022

I tried my best to create an account with parental portal but failed.I gave one star because there is no 0 star.
Submitted by student on June 08, 2021

Best School! best teachers and nice staff.
Submitted by student on September 27, 2020

Great school that helps their students a lot! So many programs that will definently help a lot of the studens succeed in life! Has so much support for students who need help as well!
Submitted by other on May 17, 2016

Many of the students at Mather are immigrants to America or the sons and daughters of immigrants to America, the school offers a wide range of classes from ESL 1 to 4 to bring the English skills these kids need. Mather also offers many honors and AP classes in every core subject as well as several years of Drama, Visual Art, dance, and Music. It has one of the best student freshman -senior year improvements in all of CPS and an average ACT score of 18 higher than most CPS schools but a little below the state average.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2015

I was about to transfer my daughter to another school but they dont want to give me a release form.. i dont know why and whats their reason.... is it because or maybe their they will get a bad record... but then i want the safety of my daughter... i dont want her getting scared of going to school and i dont want that one day she's going to tell me .. mom dont want to go to school no more its a scary place!!!! So whats going to happen to her future if thats going to happen, if she got traumatized of whatever is happening in the school... the last time they did a random check on students and what did they got from those students knife, drugs.... like everyday there is fight... what if they hit a passing by student and something happen to that student... are the staff going to be responsibe ...are those staff in the school be the one taking care of the md appt and everything.... ofcourse they they will be covering their butts.... they will find ways not to be blame.... my daughter is smart she have all her class in honors.... but then i dont want her to get low grades and affect her studies because of this school..... just release her!!!
Submitted by student on November 07, 2014

Mather has improved so much! Honestly , theres a law academy program there that makes your child to take 5 honors/Ap classes which is basically a IB program. The Tech Academy does the same in Mather. As for Avid helps students who try to succeed to college. Majority of these students are smarter than others students from other schools like lane, schurz, and von steuben .Sports are all Red Division (Second Top division). Principle can hire more coaches for sports and this school will good as lane tech and others.
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2014

My Daughter attended Mather Highschool and has a really high GPA. She Graduated and loved all her friends there. Classes are great with Honors and AP courses. Sports should be improving alot more. The Principle has made alot of changes!
Submitted by student on June 28, 2014

Mather isn't the greatest school academic wise, but honestly what you put in determines your outcome. I just graduated and will be attending UIC's Honor College this fall. I was also accepted to Depaul and Loyola. Mather is a great school in terms of diversity and has lots of resources for students. If all you plan on doing is partying and can't muster up a basic level of respect for your teachers, just don't go to high school. I loved my time at Mather. I made great friends and had some great teachers. Mather used to be bad, but the principal is truly invested in fixing Mather's reputation. Anywhere you go in life, you will have to work hard to actually succeed. Don't just go in thinking it's no use to even try to do well.
Submitted by parent on June 22, 2014

This school has a difficult time complying with IEPs. The CMs and SpEd teacher handed in false progress reports consistently. The school and The CPS atty violated FERPA laws_they seem to have no basic knowledge of standards or procedures. Yes, someone was brought in to rectify but it was all hog wash_still false progress reports til the end. Some teachers were WONDERFUL, others never bothered to read the IEP_my opinion by their comments that omitted basic issues. Stay Away.
Submitted by student on October 14, 2012

Honestly as a freshmen myself, when i found out i would have to end up going to Mather, i was upset. But when i started here, i was actually surprised with how good the school was. If some dont know, theres a Law Program, its really good. And applying for all honors is something that would be a good choice too. The teachers so far are really nice and helpful. As for the fights and stuff, lets be honest. All schools have a problem with fights, wether its allot or minor. But in Mather, its not that bad. In the end, it depends on what kind of student you are.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2012

It is sad that I had to give this only 1 star. I am happy with the principles... BUT the rest of the staff just acts like they don't care. And the "security guards" are a joke. The female "security guard" is the worse! I don't care how pretty you think you are there is NO excuse to wear clothes that ar 2 sizes to small. and heals all the time!!! and to propisition one of the students and nothing was done with it!!! GROW UP! the teachers seem to be there to just earn a check. SAD